


This Is Home

by Glutenfreepiss



Category: Metalocalypse (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Kinda, Young Toki, tags are gonna change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-16
Updated: 2019-04-23
Packaged: 2020-01-15 05:48:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,625
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18492634
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Glutenfreepiss/pseuds/Glutenfreepiss
Summary: no summery yet we die like men





	1. Prologue

He walked home alone every day. 

Aslaug and Anja would have homeschooled him, they had the money, but the Reverend’s son attending an actual school looked better. 

They were silent as their son packed his bag every day, one of the few things they ever gave him. Even if they had been forced to, it counted for something. They were silent as he got ready and clothed, sometimes having to let him up from the cellar in the morning. They never spoke to him once even then. 

No one ever said goodbye or good morning, only stared at their son as he left the house quietly.

They’d needed to get him actual shoes for school along with school supplies, but they never bought him new clothes, letting their son shiver as he braved the cold Norway air. Never once did they pick him up from school either. 

They let him take the long trip to school and back everyday by himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "fuck what do I call it"  
> "Idk"  
> "Easy way out, song lyrics"


	2. Pinky Promise

“Hey Toki! Do you wanna walk home together today?” A pretty girl with long brown hair said as she skipped over to Toki. She always had a bright smile when talking to her friend.

“Oh, no I can’t... I’m sorry Saf, my parents won’t let me.”

“Aww don’t worry about it! It’s okay.” The little girl named Saf sat down next to him on the wooden bench. 

The air was chilly but the sun was out, casting light and warmth onto the playground outside. Children laughed as they pushed each other on the swings or slid down slides together. Everyone had friends here, no one sat alone at a bench or table. There were a couple of groups of kids sitting at the stone tables, playing with dolls or cars or any other toys they had. Saf invited Toki once to go play with one of the groups for the first time, and ever since then they’d share their toys with the little brunette boy. 

The atmosphere was warm and sunny here, even when it was snowing and icy outside. 

“Why don’t your parents let you have friends?” Saf asked in Norsk, hands on the bench on either side of her small body and her legs swinging back and forth. 

Toki shrugged. “I don’t know really. They don’t like other people at the house. I don’t think they even like kids.” 

Saf nodded at that, a sad look crossing over the little girls face. 

“I wish we could hang out...” She looked over at her friend and smiled. “One day we can! You can leave when you’re an adult and we can hang out whenever we want!”

Her excited voice made Toki laugh, and they both giggled as they sat on the bench together. 

"Did you see the kittens in the butcher's store today, Saf?" "Yeah! They were sooo cute! I really want one but my mom said I had to "earn it" or something. Mom's suck!" Saf replied, rolling her eyes dramatically. 

She looked over at Toki, curousity sparking in her brown eyes. 

"Would you get one of the kittens?"

Toki nodded in response, but sighed. "Yeah, but my parents would never let me..." "Not even if you earned it?" Toki shook his head no.

Saf's legs kept on swinging as they talked, until the whistle indicating recess was over blew. The two kids and all their other classmates ran back inside to their classrooms, racing each other and laughing. Toki loved school for this reason, the laughing and joy from the other kids lifted his spirits through out the day. School was a warm escape from the coldness of home.

Toki went through the rest of his classes, sitting behind Saf for his last class, math. Toki tried his best in all his classes, he had to for himself and because of his parents. His grades already reflected this, even in elementary. 

Before long, the clock showed that dismissal was soon. The teacher started to wrap up her lesson, kids finishing their work and putting their books away. 

Saf turned around to face Toki in her seat, giving him a warm smile.

"Remember what I said during lunch 'n' stuff?" Toki nodded. "Well, if I get a kitten, you can see it whenever you want. And when we're older we can have all the things we want!" She held out her hand with her pinky out. "Pinky promise me you'll be my friend until then!"

Toki giggled as he 'pinky promise'd her, linking their pinkies together and giggling until the bell rung. 

"Bye Toki! See you tomorrow!" Saf called out as she ran out of the class with her things, along with the other children. He waved bye, taking his things and leaving after most of the rest of his class. There wasn't much reason to hurry, he was safe if he lingered on school grounds instead of in town. Most of the kids did that anyway, talking in little groups or playing on the playground. His classroom opened out into the playarea, giving the kids who had to wait for their parents a place to hang out.

He had to walk home alone again.

He waved goodbye to his class as he left the playground, a large fence opened for kids to leave. He felt a pang of sadness in his heart at the sight of parents coming to pick up their children. He’d long ago stopped crying when he saw the loving looks on their faces, instead keeping his head down and walking past. It was better if he didn't think about things that made him sad. 

The snow had been cleared out as it was school grounds, and most of the snow in the town had been shoveled out of the way too. That made this the easy part of his journey, all clean roads and sidewalks. The walk home once out of town would prove more difficult, but not a new hardship on the boy.

Toki walked down the main streets, waving at a couple school friends as he passed. The school was on the opposite side of town from the path to his home, but he didn't mind the walk at all. As he passed the shops he would look in the windows and see who was out that day. He always made sure to greet the shop owners as he passed too, exchanging nice words in exchange for them to keep quiet about his social life. 

He couldn’t risk his parents knowing how happy he was outside of their house.

He walks down the street until he sees a bakery shop sign, his face already relaxing at the hopefully good encounter he'd have inside. A woman and her son operated the bakery, but her son was off at his "college" school most of the time. Toki knew this from chatting with the pair whenever he could spare the time as he adored the duo very much.

“Hi Miss!” Toki said cheerfully as he walked through the bakery doors. The bell chime rang as he entered, a dainty noise he enjoyed. He loved hearing that bell and smelling the fresh baked goods when he walked in. The owner's pastries always smelled divine and the whole store radiated warmth, not only from the actual warm temperature inside but also from their warm accepting natures. 

“Why hello little Toki, are you here to pick up bread for your parents?”

Toki nodded his little head, smiling up at the kind woman who owned the bakery. 

“Come on into the back then, I’ll get you all set.”

Her and Toki walked into the back room, a cramped but cozy area filled with bags of flour and seed. Bottles of milk and baskets of eggs sat on shelves along the walls. A door led to outside, where a fenced chicken coup was barely visable to the short boy through the door's window. Toki loved the chickens dearly, on early dismissal days he’d come by and sit with the bakery woman to feed the birds seeds and grain. 

The way they walked funny absolutely delighted him the first time he saw them, and ever since then they were one of the highlights of his days. The door was closed right now but he could hear the clucks from the chickens and it still brought a smile to his little face. 

“Here you go Toki, two loaves of bread for your folks. And here, a present.”

The woman's voice brought his attention back to her. She had two loaves of bread in her arms. Toki’s eyes lit up at the prospect of a present as he took the bread from her, setting his bag down so he could carefully place it inside for the trip back home. 

While his head was down, putting bread in his bag, he could hear her shuffling with something. When he stood back up, he caught her turning back around. In her hands she had a small baggie with little pastry fish inside, a little ribbon bow keeping it closed.

“Oh wowee! Is that really for me?" 

She nodded with a smile, watching the child take the bag out of her hands and clutch it to his chest. He seemed too happy for something she'd consider a normal gift, but she kept her mouth shut about the manner. 

“Thank you so much miss!” “Oh no problem Toki, hurry on home now.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so basically : theyre baby


	3. Quiet

Toki walked home with a smile on his face today, his little feet skipping along the town streets. 

He had to be more careful once he reached the end of the paved roads, snow crunching under his shoes. He was grateful his parents actually bought him the shoes, even if they only did because they were forced to to keep up appearances in the town. They could have easily let their son walk barefoot in the cold snow. They had before he started school in town. 

The walk home from from the end of the paved road was half an hour, but Toki didn’t mind that much on a sunny day like this. He had time to day dream as he walked through the snow, thinking about anything else than the house he walked back to. 

He daydreamed about things like what he’d do tomorrow at recess, it was Friday tomorrow so they had an extra hour of time to be outside. Or thinking about the kitten he saw in the butcher’s shop window today with it’s little pink nose pressed against the glass as it watched birds outside. He so wished his parents would let him have one of the kittens. but no. 

Toki loves animals but his parents would never allow them in his house. He cringed when he thought what they might do to an animal or him if he took one home. They already treated him like shit, before he even knew the meaning of that word. If they could treat their only child like that, he'd never risk bringing a defenseless animal into their grasp. 

The snow felt a little colder, a little less unforgiving as he neared the clearing his house sat in. They didn’t bother to clear the snow here, they never had visitors anyway. Toki had to sweep the snow out of the immediate land close to the house. Otherwise, they let the frost build up. 

They had farm animals outside for the resources they couldn’t make Toki buy in the town. A large barn sat next to their house with a fenced off area for the animals to go outside. They had four dairy cows and a large breeding bull, along with a couple sheep and pigs. Eggs could be bought from the town store or the bakery, so they had no reason to keep them at the house. The cold didn't allow them to grow fruit or vegetables, so the child bought them from town. 

As Toki approached the house, his stomach felt uneasy. Footsteps in the otherwise fresh snow indicated mother had taken care of the animals today. Anxiety rose in Toki’s mind, why had she done that? He couldn’t waste any more time stalling and thinking, he was severely punished when he came home late. 

The wooden front door creaked as it was pushed open. Toki stepped inside quietly, closing the door behind him. He was making his way to the stairs when suddenly he heard a loud bleat from further inside the house. 

“Mother?” 

Toki called out softly, not expecting an answer. He never got one from her.

He made his way to the kitchen, where he heard the clicking of hooves on the tile and another loud bleat. It sounded like whatever it was, it was in pain. The unease and anxiety from outside started to slowly suffocate him. His throat felt tight as the sounds got louder and louder the closer he got. He had to go look and investigate or the curiosity would eat him alive. 

He tried to stand tall and unafraid as he entered the kitchen. Ajna Wartooth sat on the kitchen floor, dirt dusted on her long black dress. In her arms was a young, nearly newborn baby sheep. It's eyes were barely open, pitch black. 

Her cold blue eyes looked up at her child son, showing no emotions as she sat the young sheep on the floor again. The poor thing tried to stand on its own, but it’s front leg buckled and it fell, bleating again. That’s where the noise had came from, but why would she ever willingly bring an animal in their house? 

He knew it was better to just ignore it. Mind his own business and not provoke her. 

Toki swallowed hard, passing his mother with his book bag, taking it to the kitchen counter. As he unzipped it, panic set in. The little pastry fish he’d gotten. Would his mother see and question him? She didn't talk, but she had her own ways of judging him. He hoped she wouldn't. A flood of relief washed over him when he saw the little baggy at the bottom of his bag, under a book. If they were a little crushed it was fine, he didn't care as long as they were out of sight. 

Toki took the loaves of bread from his bag to put them away. He had to stand on his tiptoes to open the kitchen cabinets and put the loaves away. If Anja saw him struggling, she never helped.

He peeked over his shoulder to find his mother not staring into his soul or at him for once. She was holding the baby sheep again. Her thin arms wrapped loosely around it, an odd display of almost affection from her. Toki'd never seen her be this gentle with something before.

The young boy felt bad for it, but he didn’t let it show. He lingered for only a moment longer, before zipping his backpack back up and taking his things up stairs to his bedroom.

Father wasn’t home, he would have known. Toki’s bedroom was at the end of the upstairs hall, his parents room was near the top of the stairs. He would have to pass it on his way to his room, so he could always tell if someone was home or not. He looked up at their door, the door was left open with the sun shining through their window. The light showed no one inside, the bedroom as cold and bland as his parents themselves. 

That was odd for him to not be home but not unwelcome, it meant he could have freedom for a little while. His mother wasn’t as bad when father wasn’t around. The reverend was the worse one by far. 

Toki walked to the end of the hall and into his bedroom, keeping the door open. He had to keep it open at all times, unless he was changing or bathing. Sometimes his room door would be opened during those times either way. His parents wanted to know what he was up to at all times.

Toki set his bag down at the foot of his bed. He waited to see if he could hear any footsteps, but he only heard another pained bleat. That meant mother was still downstairs. It also meant she still had that lamb. 

He cringed and shook his head. There was no point in stressing himself out anymore than he already was.

He pulled out the little bag of pastries, a little squished but it was fine. The young boy clutched them to his chest. It was one of the only gifts he’d ever gotten from anyone, and this one was for no reason at all. Just out of the kindness of that bakery woman's heart.

He opened the bag, taking one out and leaving the rest for another time. He’d keep them as long as he could, even if they went stale. He shoved the bag back into his book bag. His parents would search almost everything in his room, but he’d found that nine times out of ten, they would leave his bag alone. They thought only books were in there anyway, so what was the point. 

Toki popped the treat in his mouth, laying down with his back to the bed. It was good, the center some kind of bean paste. It was odd but it wasn’t bad at all! Just unusual.

He was used to plain bread and soup most days, meat and dairy if his mother was feeling generous or if his father hadn’t finished his food that day. Those days were the days that kept him going, when his parents didn't completely neglect to care for him. Those days were rare though, he never knew what the next morning would bring. They only did good things for him when they were forced to, or when food would have gone to waste if they didn't give it to him. 

Whatever. The bakery lady's food was leagues above his parent's, he shouldn't compare them. 

 

Toki must have fallen asleep.

He awoke to the dinner bell being rung, the taste of bean paste and pastry still on his tongue from earlier. 

The sun had set by now, it had to be at least six or seven p.m. by now. Toki sat up in bed, stretching himself out and letting his joints pop. He sighed softly as he hauled his body out of bed. Even being as young as he was, his body still ached a lot of the time. He knew it wasn't normal.

His bare feet were cold against the wooden floors when he got up, but he didn’t want to wear his shoes out by wearing them all the time. They stayed at the side of his bed, only worn when going into town and going to school. 

Walking downstairs, he found his mother and father at the table. Luckily his mother had only just started to make the plates of food, he wouldn’t have gotten fed if he had been late to dinner. It wouldn't have been the first time they'd purposely "forgotten" to make food for him. 

Toki took his place at the small tining table, hands off of the table and on his lap. His mother took a couple moments but she places their plates down in front of each of them, taking her seat at the table, across from his father. 

The only times he ever heard his parents speak anymore was when they were praying, or were forced to talk to someone important who didn’t understand their oath of silence. He hung his head and prayed with his parents, their soft unnerving voices on either side of him. Once they had lifted their heads again he could eat.

Toki learned very young to cross his ankles and not put his hands or elbows on the table. Using the right utensils at the right times or he’d get his hands smacked. Wait for food to be offered or be punished. Sometimes he’d do nothing wrong and it would happen anyway. He always had to be careful not to waste anything on his plate or let anything spill onto the white table cloth.

Tonights dinner, for him at least, was bland chicken meat, a small dish of soup, and a couple small boiled potatoes. He never dared complain about it. He couldn't remember a time he ever actually had. Maybe he'd objected once and blocked it from memory. 

They ate in silence. 

Their son was finished first, having eaten everything he could as fast as he could without getting smacked. They couldn’t have him acting like a pig at their table. Toki always finished first, his hungry growing body needing all the food he could possibly get. Plus he didn’t know when his next meal would be either way. Toki took his plate to their sink and cleaned it off before excusing himself.

“Thank you for the food. Goodnight mother, goodnight father.” He said in Norsk, head bowed to them before he could head back upstairs. They must have gotten extra chicken from the butcher this week.

Toki found himself back in his bedroom, lying on his stomach. The curtains in his bedroom were open, the window slid open a crack to let in the cold, fresh air. He tugged his thin sheet close around his body. The woods outside looked peaceful and serene, the slow cold and untouched. He could see thousands of stars from where he lay. Air pollution didn’t exist here in his abandoned town, letting natures beauty breathe and shine through the night. 

Toki’s eyes closed on his own, thoughts of glittering stars dancing around his head and luring him into the comforting blackness of rest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hngn this a chunky chapter


End file.
